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The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs took a look at its greatest need-quality child care for preschoolers-and developed a plan for meeting that need with the minimum disruption and maximum benefit for children and families. Their solution? Co-location.

In 1992, the Tribe built a 46,000 facility to house the Head Start, Tribal Preschool, Child Development Center, and Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) programs. All of these programs are administered by the Tribe's Early Childhood Education Department.

Program operations, which total some $2 million, are funded by annual tribal appropriations, Head Start grants, Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) monies, USDA meal reimbursements, parent fees, Johnson O'Malley funds, State EI/ECSE, and State Case Management allocations. High-cost projects or operations, such as transportation, playgrounds, and parent training events, are funded jointly.

The facility accommodates 400 children. Infant care is provided at the center for children from six weeks to two years old. Three-and four-year-olds attend one of 12 preschool classrooms. Eight of the 12 classrooms are part-day, 10-month. Four-year-olds are given priority for preschool enrollment; remaining slots are given to three-year-olds. To accommodate working families, Head Start hours have been extended, opening all classrooms at 7:30 a.m. rather than 8:30 a.m.

The Warm Springs program combines available training funds from Head Start and CCDBG to enhance training and educational activities for all staff members who provide direct and support services to families enrolled in center- and home-based program. In addition, the work year for two Head Start employees was extended from ten to twelve months, creating 15 full-time preschool child care slots.

These changes reduce service duplication and maximize resource utilization. Families understand how to access services and are better skilled at forecasting their own child care needs. Furthermore, there is an improved commitment to working together for a common cause.

Through co-location, gaps in services are easier to identify and remedy, and effective working relationships with related agencies are more easily developed. Co-location also facilitates communication between the Head Start Policy Council and program staff, as well as the flow of information regarding a wide variety of opportunities for parent involvement. Finally, this simple arrangement has enable everyone involved to maintain a strong sense of purpose, focus, and commitment to children and families.

For more information, contact:
Early Childhood Education
Department, The Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs,
257 SE Barber Road,
Madris, OR 97741.
T: 541/553-3241, F: 541/553-3379.